One thing I’ve learned over the years is to never assume anything. Things that seem like common sense to some people, are mysteries to other people. When I was talking to a friend about doing some cooking, I was shocked to find out that they seriously did not know how to boil an egg. It is so simple, that it has become a bit of a joke, but I suppose if no one ever really told you how to do it, you could end up worrying about doing something wrong in the process.
Actually, there are some subtle nuances that people disagree on. Should you start with cold water or hot and such. So, for the sake of getting something constructive posted here, I’m going to explain how I personally boil eggs.
I place the egg or eggs in a sauce pan and then add enough cool water to make sure that they are covered. I never measured how much, water, but I’d say around an inch or so over the top of the eggs is sufficient. Once this is done, I put a lid on the pan, place the pan on the stove and turn the heat to a medium setting.
Once the water starts boiling, there are a couple of approaches you can take. If you are hungry for soft boiled eggs, you leave the eggs simmering until they reach the “doneness” that you like. For most people, this is two or three minutes, but your results may vary and I certainly wouldn’t want to tell anyone to eat raw eggs, so, for me, I stick with hard boiled. If you want soft boiled, you’ll have to consult another source to find out the best method. (See, this really is more complicated than I realized).
So anyway, for hard boiled, I’ve found that you can either let them keep boiling for ten to fifteen minutes, or turn off the heat and keep the lid on for about fifteen minutes. I prefer the second option. It seems to result in less cracked shells.
When I’m done cooking my hardboiled eggs, I use a utensil to remove them (as opposed to plunging my hand into 200 degree water) and I gently place them into a nice cold ice water bath. This seems to help with the later shell removal. After that, I pop them back in the fridge and grab one whenever I get hungry.
